LINK TO THE STORY HERE
If you’re reading this, you’ve been following this story in 140-character chunks on Twitter and/or Facebook since Oct. 18. Or you actually read this on a constantly basis. Anyways, I’ll spare the introductions.
I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors because I did not proofread this and I am very, very tired.
When I got back from my misadventures in Atlantic City, I came home to a loud humming noise. Really loud. Like not able to get a full night’s sleep loud. It sounded like a generator but I didn’t know for sure. A few of my roommates and I discussed it and wondered where it was coming from. That was the end of it. We figured it would be gone in a day or two after whatever electrical work somewhere was done.
It didn’t go anywhere.
The hum became a constant companion. It had many variations, to the point that we started naming them. It was a constant drone that changed in pitch and intensity as a piece of machinery not designed to run for days on end nonstop did so. We gave the people who had the confirmed generator the benefit of the doubt. We griped about it to ourselves or through social networking and that was it.
Then, after a night meeting and having to be at work at 6:30 a.m. to put together a newspaper, I had about enough. I figured it had to be illegal. I wanted to call someone, anyone in Richmond who would tell me if the generator had to go or if we had to accept it as another sound of the city.
The suggestion was made that led to a call to the city’s 311 line Oct. 21. I tried code compliance and I got bounced around to a few offices. I also sent an e-mail to the main public affairs account.
The next afternoon, I contacted Community Assisted Public Safety, which told me there had to be a police report first and I should talk to the First Precinct. So I called the first precinct. The person who answered the phone seemed genuinely concerned. I told her how it was: there was a generator that had been running since at least Sunday and the day was then Thursday. I had not heard it turn off. If there is no power, there are children in that house. Is this safe? Is this legal?
I was told that a unit would go out and assess the sound and, since there were children, social services would stop by if it was determined that there was a generator running to a house with no power. I came home hoping the noise would be gone. Nope.
At this point, the variations in pitch and tone began to grow in intensity. At times, it would quietly hum before revving and growling like a V-12 waiting to leap off the line. Sometimes there would be silence for just long enough to give us all false hope. Then it would jar us awake, leaving us lethargic the entire work day.
The next night was Friday. I didn’t care that it was Friday and the city was hopping. I wanted to go to sleep. I needed to cover something at 10 a.m. No one answered at the precinct at 9:54 p.m. Oct. 23. I called central dispatch. The guy who answered sounded like he could not believe I was calling about a noisy, potentially unsafe generator on a Friday night. I was told someone would come out if someone had the time. I knew that meant no one was coming. I missed the 10 a.m. appointment.
We did get a mention on the Church Hill blog (see entry before this one).
At this point, I was about to give up. I had called everyone I was told to call. Obviously no one cared. We wondered if it could catch their house on fire. We wondered if the cost of gas to keep the damn thing running surpassed the electric bill. I thought of one last thing. I looked up who owned the property and called the number that went with it. The person seemed concerned that there was a generator attached to what he called “his house” and said he was going to check that out. Nothing happened.
I left a message for CAPS on the 25th. I called public works again on the 26th and was told that there had been calls about the house to the office that day before me. I again hoped that something would come of it.
Some people may say we should have gone over there and talked to them. That’s a big unknown. We don’t know them. Everyone’s quick to say “they could have come to me first” but the x-factor of their reaction to a neighbor telling them to cut it out outweighs what could have come of it. I may die from doing something stupid but I didn’t want knocking on some stranger’s door because it sounds like a prop plane from hell is in their backyard. Besides, they had to have know someone was going to call or stop by at some point. I know there’s general community apathy everywhere but this is interrupting sleep. Some people will walk past a sexual assault, sad to say, but by God, if it wakes them up, they’re going to be hell to pay.
Nada.
We got suggestions to talk to the neighbors but we were also advised not to talk to them because of previous history with that house. We half seriously thought of breaking the generator or just setting their house on fire. I nearly brought an ax.
On the 26th, I tried the police one last time. I mentioned that I had called before and, as far as I knew no one had come out. I was told someone would.
Then it was Wednesday. I had articles to write, photos to edit and an early day today for layout. A roommate upstairs had a midterm to study for. I sat in the living room trying to ignore the noise but I couldn’t. I stopped hanging out in my bedroom because it somehow seemed louder in my bedroom.
As if on cue, one my roommates came home and the generator got exponentially louder. She announced that she could no longer sleep in the house and was no longer going to try. She also suggested contacting CBS6 to see if they could at least get some exposure and prod the city into action. As she looked for a contact e-mail, I remembered that my cell phone hold a treasure trove of awesomeness. Within a few minutes, I had Wayne Covil on the line and he said he was on his way over.
Then things got interesting.
He was surprised at how loud it was and how we put up with it for so long. We mentioned that we were at the end of our rope and one of us was going to do something equally illegal before the week’s end if that fucking generator did not stop running. It was obvious it was not a temporary fix. The cost of has had to be more than what the electric bill was. The thing was bound to catch fire. A couple other neighbors were outside. There were stories of them stealing water and other things.
Wayne tried to figure out exactly where the generator was. He peeked over the fence and saw nothing. It couldn’t possibly be on the second-floor deck of a century-old house. We headed up to our balcony. There was a gas-powered generator on the wooden second-floor deck of a wooden house.
As Wayne gathered his film equipment out on the sidewalk, a man appeared on a bicycle and headed to the backyard. We figured we lost the video for right now. Wayne was going to show it to his producers to see if he could proceed the next day. The noise did not stop. Instead it grew louder. He headed up to the balcony and discovered that the man was gassing up the generator as it was running. As it was running.
A few moments later, the children who live in the house came out because of the camera lights and the louder generator noise. Then the woman who lives there came out.
Enter chaos.
Wayne interviewed some of us after the woman next door screamed at him for a bit and left. One of my roommates and I thought it was a good time to get the hell out of dodge at that point. We didn’t expect the confrontation to happen then and especially not from our balcony.
As today wore on, I felt a little less sorry for them. I mean, I wanted them to get assistance if they needed it or arrested if the generator was powering some hydroponics or a meth lab or something. I certainly didn’t want it to be obvious that we called someone but, at the same time, what the fuck did they expect? That this was atrocious, rattled the brains of not only us but people on the other side of the block and was a HUGE fire hazard. What if we sat idly by and let their house burn down? What kind of members of society would we be? I wanted code compliance or CAPS involved first because I figured they were just having a rough time and they needed to know a generator is not the answer.
Then I though about the kids. They are in a house with no power and a generator running in a fire trap situation. They needed to be safe and warm and have lights. There are things out there that would give them assistance. Why didn’t they think of that for the kids? What if we never called anyone and one or all of those kids died? What if the city never responded and one of those kids died? We had to get TV out here.
Later today, it came out that there was no water either. The city claimed Wayne presenting the situation was the first time they had heard of anything. The city gave the neighbors 48 hours to get the water and power turned back on. They said they were seeking assistance. The agreed to talk on camera. I missed the segment but I’ll post a link in another entry if I find it.
I’m heading home now. The only full night’s sleep I’ve had since the 19th came out of a day where I was awake for 20 hours and crashed and burned. I’m looking forward to sleeping tonight. And I’m looking forward to the people next door having water and power and a better quality of life and I hope they aren’t too pissed that they wound up out there on the news.
